Monday, May 2, 2011

Easter egg brownies for grown ups

If you are anything like me, this post may be a tad late because this is a recipe to use up some of that left over chocolate from Easter. If you have any left over, that is.

Now I am the perfect mom, only allowing my kids a few pieces of their chocolate Easter eggs here and there. To then sit in front of the TV while they are in bed chomping on their goodies. I know, I know... but what goes better with gilded uniforms, diamond tiaras, white gloves and lace sealed with a kiss in front of a cheering crowd then that sugary goodness?

Ok, I actually watched the royal wedding of the decade in the office with a bunch of colleagues, some (men) feigning disinterest but nonetheless peaking at Kate, Will, Pippa & Co. (especially Pippa). After all, we do work in an investment bank and it was a bank holiday across the Channel so our phones and emails on Friday were pretty dead as a result.

I did however stuff my face nibble on my childrens' Rapunzel and Barbapapa chocolate eggs during a few episodes of Glee.

So now you understand why it was essential for me to get rid of that stash immediately. Problem being, I do not bake with milk chocolate. I started searching the Internet thinking I would just come up with tooth-achingly sweet recipes only suitable for kids. Not so. With a little research and some tweaking here and there, I actually made something much more grown up and healthy than I expected (with an added bonus: the kids liked it too).

There is no butter in this recipe, the moistness coming from the Greek yogurt, but it is rich and dense, the sweetness mainly coming from the nuggets of creamy milk chocolate these brownies are studded with. If it weren't for the children, a dash of coffee would have been perfect in the batter. If you try it, let me know.

Ingredients

6 oz./170gr Greek yogurt

3/4-1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly grease a baking dish. I used a rather large one so the brownies turned out quite thin. Combine the yogurt and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly blended. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt and then gradually stir the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate pieces and spread the batter into your baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 30 or more minutes. Remove and let cool before cutting.

13 comments:

I have to admit that I can't stand the sight of chocolate after my Easter choco extravaganza, *but* (there's always a but where chocolate is concerned) I'm intrigued. No butter? I will be making this in the future.By the way, I prefer Kate to Pippa. Not to mention that her name means something obscene in Greek and I can't help but laugh every time I hear it!

Those brownies look toooo good! We didn't do easter chocolate and i've been on a weird health nut baking craze (not really post worthy....) trying to get roman to eat everything healthy under the sun, in the form of muffin or "cookie" (yeah, right!) What I wouldn't give to just indulge myself a little :)

I am just like you... I never bake with milk chocolate. But these brownies look so delicious that I would love to try them... I love the fact that you used yogurt instead of butter and they still look so moist and mouth watering! That's a plus for me! HAHAHAHA Pippa...... I will not comment on the name... but it sure is funny... can;t believe it means the same thing in Greek!

Nicole - you are such a good mom, baking healthy goods for Roman. I am sure it is great for your hips too! By the time you are on the second child, in comes the milk chocolate, out goes the no-sugar/no-salt rule. Impossible with another kid around whose peers eat sugar all the time, no matter how hard you try. These brownies were a good in-between, I kept the sugar to 3/4 cup.Honestly good food - thanks for your visit, enjoyed discovering your blog. Yes, Greek yogurt reigns!Lorraine - I swear, you cannot tell the difference. And you know that if I post about a half way healthy dessert it is only because it is good. I promised that in a past post. Uh, yeah, you better look the word up...I just can't write it :o)Manu - I was surprised the word was the same in Greek too. You can imagine the Italian mens' comments when P walked down that aisle in that dress...The yogurt is what gave all that moistness, really good.ToB - I am a chocolate purist, and if I'm going to eat it I usually don't want healthy versions. The yogurt however worked a dream. I read about people using non fat yogurt and being satisfied with the end result too.

DD&W - I totally get the negative effect chocolate has on the kiddies...thus the only-one-little-piece-every-once-in-a-while rule. Sasha - hi! Love your blog. I must say the yogurt added an interesting twist, something I had never thought of in brownies.